Strokes of imagination Fantasy has always played an important role in India’s ancient art tradition. The artist’s imagination wandered freely, crossing the barriers of naturalism into a magical, dream-like world inhabited by mythical forms and figures and fantastic flora and fauna. This element of unbounded imagination continues to this day and is reflected in the art of leading contemporary artists. In The Realms of Fantasy, the ongoing group exhibition of paintings, features imaginative works of art in diverse styles and themes. Though each work bears the distinctive stamp of its creator, the paintings are knit together by their creators’ common consonance with the country’s art tradition. Participating artists include Sanatan Dinda, Prokash Karmakar, Suhas Roy, Subrata Gangopadhyay, Sibsaday, Samir Paul, Subrata Paul, Gourago Beshai, Bratin Khan, Kamalaksha Gangopadhyay (a painting by him appears here) and Ramananda Bandyopadhyay. Event: An exhibition of paintings by well-known artists When: Till July 31; 11 am - 7 pm Where: Idiyas Gallery, 15 Dover Road

art

July 19 at Emami Chisel Art Pvt. Ltd, Emami Towers, 687 Anandapur E.M. Bypass, #4011 3182/3183; 6 pm: Inauguration of Whispered Legacy, a retrospective of paintings and drawings by Abani Sen curated by Ina Puri. Also, the release of a commemorative volume on the Late Abani Sen edited by Ina Puri. July 19 - August 9 (except Sundays) at Gallery Sanskriti, 5C Alipore Park Road; 11 am - 8 pm: Gallery Sanskriti and Apparao Galleries present The Wandering Alchemist — paintings and sculptures by Alexis Kersey, George K, and Manish Nai. Inauguration today at 6.30 pm. Till July 19 at Gaganendra Shilpa Pradarshashala; 3 pm - 8 pm: Art Fair-08, the Assam-Bengal state level exhibition participated by budding artists of North Bengal, Santiniketan and Assam. Till July 19 at Chemould Art Gallery, 12F Park Street; 2 pm - 7 pm: An exhibition of paintings by Arpita Khaskel. Till July 20 at Studio Aloke, 1/42 Shahid Nagar, Dhakuria: A solo exhibition by Aloke Paul. Till July 20 at Birla Academy of Art & Culture, 2nd floor; 4 pm - 8 pm: Creation presents an exhibition of paintings by Suvasish Chattopadhyay, Shibu Basak, Kakali Misra, Raju Kar and Dhrubajyoti Nath. Till July 21 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of paintings and sculptures by Sanjoy Kumar Samanta, Sutapa Dutta and Subrata Karmakar. Till July 21 at Academy of Fine Arts, New South-B; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of sculptures by Subrata Paul. Till July 23 (except Sunday) at Akar Prakar, P 238 Hindustan Park, #2464 2617; 2 pm - 7 pm: An exhibition of recent work by Sandip Roy. Till July 25 (except Sunday) at Aakriti Art Gallery, Orbit Enclave, 1st floor, 12/3A Hungerford Street, #2289 3027/5041; 3 pm - 7 pm: An exhibition of paintings by various artists. Till July 26 (except Sunday) at Weavers Studio Centre for the Arts, 94 Ballygunge Place; #2440 8937; 11 am - 8 pm: Kolkata Smiles 08, an exhibition celebrating the cartoon heritage of Calcutta, displaying both rare vintage and contemporary cartoons. Exhibition curated by Chandi Lahiri. Till July 26 at Gallery Exposure, 54B Mahanirban Road; 3 pm to 8 pm: Art Mela, an exhibition of affordable art featuring the works of about 50 artists from Calcutta and Santiniketan. Till July 29 at ArtFolio, 29 Lansdowne Place; 3 pm - 8 pm (Saturday to Tuesday): An exhibition with different participating artists every week, including old Bengal, contemporary Masters etc. Call 9831088469 for details. Other days by appointment.

DRAMA

July 19 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm: Barasat Anushilanee presents Ak Rasik Doubarik. Drama & direction: Ramaprasad Banik. July 19 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.30 pm: Howrah Dakshinayan presents Hawa Badal. Drama & direction: Kunal Mukhopadhyay. July 19 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Theatron presents Buddhadeva Bose’s Nepathye Natak. July 19 at Sujata Sadan; 6.30 pm: Niva Arts and Swapnasandhani present Haragaj. Direction & acting: Koushik Sen. July 19 at Girish Mancha; 6.30 pm: Spandan IPTA presents Anticlock, written and directed by Sangram Guha. July 20 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm: Natya-Anan presents Satyajit Ray’s Heerak Rajar Deshe. Direction: Chandan Sen. July 20 at Tapan Theatre; 6.30 pm: Mukhomukhi and Niva Arts present Atmakatha. Drama: Mahesh Elkunchwar. Bengali adaptation & direction: Soumitra Chattopadhyay. Cast includes Soumitra Chattopadhyay, Lily Chakraborty, Poulami Basu and Damini Mukherjee. July 20 at Girish Mancha; 6.30 pm: Nat-Ranga will stage Gulbaaj, the Man of the Match. Direction: Sohan Bandyopadhyay. July 20 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.30 pm: Nandikar presents Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay Chokh Gyalo. Performance: Swatilekha Sengupta. Direction: Goutam Halder. July 20 at G.D. Birla Sabhagar; 6.30 pm: Sanskriti Sagar, in association with Weavers Studio Centre for the Arts and Open Doors, presents Dhritiman Chaterji in JustUs Repertory’s Water Lilies: A Trilogy. Written, designed and directed by Gowri Ramnarayan. July 20 - 25 at Mukta Angan Rangalaya; 6 pm: Short-length Bengali drama competition, organised by Shouvanik.

PERFORMING ARTS

July 19 at Rabindra Sadan; 5.45 pm: Surarshi presents Chirodiner Gaan, an evening of Bengali songs of the bygone era. Singers: Dwijen Mukhopadhyay, Indranil Sen, Parimal Bhattacharya, Swapan Shome, Manomoy Bhattacharya, Debmalya Chattopadhyay, Supratik Das, Nirmala Mishra, Banasree Sengupta, Haimanti Shukla, Indrani Sen, Sreeradha Bandyopadhyay, Madhurima Dutta Choudhury and Sumana Chakraborty. July 19 at Sisir Mancha; 6 pm: Songs of D.L. Roy and Dilip Kumar Roy by Debashis Basu, Krishna Roychowdhury, Gairika Bandyopadhyay and Sujata Majumdar. July 19 at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, 8 Shakespeare Sarani; 6.30 pm: Songs of D.L. Roy and Rajanikanta Sen conducted by Sikha Basu. July 19 at Calcutta School of Music, 6B Sunny Park; 7 pm: Classics and Romantics, a debut concert by young pianist Gaurab Dutta. July 20 at Rabindra Sadan; 6.30 pm: To mark the 108th birth anniversary of Sailajaranjan Mazumdar, Dakshin Kalikata Nandanikee presents Barshar Shesh Sholo-ti Gaan (songs performed at Barshamangal in Santiniketan, 1939 in Tagore’s presence and under Sailajaranjan Mazumdar’s direction). To be rendered by Ashish Bhattacharjee.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Till July 19 at 46 Satish Mukherjee Road, behind Kalighat Park; 2 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of photographs by Martine Franck. Till July 19 at at Seagull Arts & Media Resource Centre, 36C S.P. Mukherjee Road; 2 pm - 8 pm: Tasveer and The Seagull Foundation for the Arts present exhibitions of photography by Swapan Nayak (Title: Refugees in Their Own Land and Nowhere People) and Tim Hall (Title: Pilgrimage). Till July 19 at Galerie 88, 28B Shakespeare Sarani; #2290 2274: Mark Him (Second Half) — a project on Indian football by Riyas Komu. Till August 12 at Photographers’ Gallery, 59A Southend Park, #65406499, 98303 31556; 3 pm - 8 pm: Bouquet of Photographs, featuring images taken by Atanu Paul and members of Third Eye.

TALK

July 19 at Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha, Belur Math; 6 pm: Swami Girishananda will speak on Brihadaranyak Upanishad. July 19 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Shivananda Hall; 6 pm: Manatosh Bandyopadhyay will speak in Bengali on Visva Ushnayan O Purva Bharater Jal-Samasya. July 19 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 19B Raja Rajkrishna Street; 7 pm: Swami Paramatmananda will speak in Bengali on Shiksha, Samaj O Dharma. July 19 at Bidhannagar Ramakrishna Vivekananda Kendra, DD-44 Salt Lake, #2334 9265; 7 pm: Pritindra Krishna Bhattacharya will speak on Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita. July 19 at Ramakrishna Math, Baranagar; 7.15 pm: Discourse on Swami-Sishya-Sambad by Swami Satprabhanandaji Maharaj.

EXHIBITION

Till July 19 at Nari Seva Sangha, Kaushik Hall, near Jodhpur Park Post Office; 12 noon - 8 pm: Monorama Events showcases a collection of batik, kantha stitch items, hand-painting, applique, dress material, sarees, tops, children’s garments and costume jewellery. Till July 19 at Aranya, 124B S.P. Mukherjee Road, opp. Kalighat tram depot; 11 am - 8 pm: A wide range of rain items, in various shades of blue, including posters, notebooks, bags, and Brishtir Khata, to mark the Monsoon Week. Till July 25 at Soumya’s Creation, 57/9 Ballygunge Circular Road; 10.30 am - 7 pm: Monsoon Magic, an exhibition of saris, jewellery, accessories and home linens. Till August 3 at Shoppers Stop, Elgin Road, City Centre & South City Mall: Monsoon Makeovers fest. Till August 15 at Starmark (3 Lord Sinha Road, G-202 City Centre, and South City); 10.30 am - 8 pm: An exhibition of Penguin Classics Collection covering Greek and Roman works, and Victorian literature and modern classics.

READING

July 20 at G.D. Birla Sabhagar; 11 am: Professor P. Lal reads Sanjaya's report of Duryodhana rejecting guru Kripa's advice to make peace and appointing Salya the new Kaurava commander-in-chief, and Krishna convincing Yudhisthira to make killing Salya his top priority, in the 434th weekly session of his sloka-by-sloka English transcreation of Vyasa's Mahabharata.All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less than a week ahead to: Time out, The Telegraph, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001; Fax: 2234-8244

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All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less than a week ahead to:

Time out, The Telegraph, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001;
Fax: 2234-8244